Fisher's Light(115)

“I love you. So much,” I tell her softly. “I miss him, and I wish he was here to see this, but I know he’s up there, cheering us on.”

She nods, resting her hands on top of mine on either side of her face. “He was so proud of you, Fisher, don’t ever forget that.”

I hear a throat clear behind me and we turn, both of us more than a little surprised to see who’s standing next to us, especially since he wasn’t invited.

“Fisher… Lucy,” my father says with a nod in both of our directions.

He holds up a large, wrapped package and hands it to Lucy. “I hope you don’t mind, Bobby said he was supposed to give this to you after the ceremony, but I wanted to do the honors.”

Lucy takes the package from my father. It’s the wedding present I made for her and I was having Bobby keep it hidden until the ceremony was finished. I have no idea what he’s trying to pull and I can’t help but be a little on the defensive and protective of Lucy. I don’t want anything ruining this day for her.

I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her securely into my side as she slowly rips the paper off of the present. She gasps when she sees the sign I carved. When I found out she trashed the sign I’d made her on our first wedding day, I knew I would make her a new one if she ever agreed to marry me again. I’m actually happy that she got rid of that first one. We’re starting over, beginning again and this sign, with a new date, signifies that.

“It’s beautiful, son,” my father tells me softly as he stares down at the sign in Lucy’s hand as she lovingly traces her fingers over the letters.

“Welcome to the family again, Lucy,” he tells her with a smile. “I know an apology will never suffice for the way I’ve treated you over the years. The way I’ve treated both of you. But for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I’m ashamed of the way I’ve behaved and I’m even more ashamed that it took the death of my father to open my eyes. I hope one day you can forgive me. I don’t want…”

I watch his eyes fill with tears as he pauses and clears his throat. I’m dumbfounded and I’ve suddenly forgotten how to blink.

“I don’t want to leave this earth with any regrets when my time comes. Right now, I have entirely too many and I want to change that. I’m proud of you. I’m so proud of both of you,” he tells us with a sad smile before walking away from us and back over to the group standing a few feet away.

“What in the hell just happened?” Lucy whispers as we both stare at my father while he chats easily with Lucy’s parents.

“I have no f*cking idea,” I whisper back.

My father has been quite friendly since Trip passed away. Lucy had the wake and the ceremony at the inn and my father helped with everything, telling her to relax and not to lift a finger. He bragged about her and Butler House to everyone who walked through the door and pointed out every piece of furniture I’d made for the inn, praising my skills and telling everyone how proud he was of me. When I asked my mother about it, assuming he was just trying to showboat and be the center of attention, she told me he was grieving in his own way and wanted to make up for the past. It was nice hearing him say such good things about me, but I still wasn’t inclined to invite him to our wedding.

Maybe he finally realized what a shitty son he’d been or maybe he saw how devastated I was when I lost Trip and realized I wouldn’t grieve that way when he dies. Maybe he finally realized that the love of family and friends is the only thing that will truly sustain you through life, or maybe the letter Trip left behind was the kick in the ass he needed. When I read the letter Trip wrote to all of us on the day of his funeral, I watched my father cry for the first time in my entire life. Trip apologized to my father for the loss of his mother and for not doing everything he could to give him enough love to make up for her not being there. He told my father he would haunt him for the rest of his life if he didn’t stop making the same mistakes he did, and to be proud of me and accepting of Lucy. Then, he royally pissed Lucy off by enclosing the ‘paid in full’ deed to the inn, telling her that she better stop rolling her eyes and just say thank you. He told us that if we were reading that letter, we damn well better not be sad because he was finally where he belonged, with the woman he loves, and that he hoped we had finally stopped being idiots, gotten our shit together and gotten remarried. Every time we’ve waffled about whether we should continue with our wedding on the anniversary of our first date, all we had to do was think about that letter and know we were doing the right thing.